Connector



Dec. 6, 1966 CONNECTOR W. G. DRIEMEYER Original Filed Sept. 14, 1962 INVENTORZ WILLIAM G. DRIEMEYER I! AGENT United States Patent 8 Claims. (Cl. 339-94) This is a division of application Ser. No. 223,775, filed Sept. 14, 1962 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to a connector and more particularly to an electrical connector to be used under conditions of high ambient pressure fluid as for instance, submerged to considerable depth in the ocean or other body of liquid or gaseous fluid.

Those concerned with the development of electrical connectors have long recognized the need for a connector which would provide electrical communication with the interior of a device surrounded by high pressure fluid and would at the same time exclude such fluid from the interior of the device. The present invention fulfills this need.

The electrical connector of the present invention comprises a hollow metal body having elongated connector pins mounted therein. The connector pins are provided with insulating, mounting and sealing means which rigidly secure the pins in position, provide insulation between the pins respectively and between the pins and the body and also provide sealing means to prevent leakage of high pressure fluid.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved electrical connector.

Itis another object of this invention to provide a new and improved electrical connector having insulating, mounting and sealing means for use under conditions of high ambient fluid pressures.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide a new and improvedele,ctrical connector having elongated connector pins mounted in a hollow metallic body which connector pins are provided intermediate their length with a tapered frusto-conical ceramic insulator received by a tapered bore in the body to rigidly secure and electrically insulate each pin and having elastomeric sealing means bonded to the pin and the connector body, to prevent infiltration of high pressure fluid therebetween.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more readilyapparent upon consideration of the following descriptionand drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partially in section of an electrical connector constructed according to the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, partially sectional view, taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1, of a connector pin and insulator used in the electrical connector of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1 there is shown an electrical connector 10 constructed according to the principles of this invention and comprising a metallic body 12 having an upwardly extending, hollow cylindrical, upper portion 14, an externally hexagonal, intermediate portion 16 and a downwardly extending, hollow cylindrical, lower portion 18. The upper end portion of the upper portion 14 is provided with external threads 15 to mate with an internally threaded sleeve portion of a mating electrical connector (not shown) in a manner well known in the art. In a similar manner the lower body portion 18 is provided with external threads 19 to provide for mounting the electrical connector of this invention on an electrical device 20 a portion of which is shown in dot and dash outline in FIG. 1. A suitable lock nut 22 engaged with-the threads 19 secures the engagement of the electrical connector 10 with the electrical device 20 and a deformable resilient sealing means such as an O ring 24 is interposed between the intermediate body portion 16 and a surface of the electrical device 20 to provide fluid tight sealing therebetween in a manner well known in the art.

The upper portion 14 and the lower portion 18 have coaxial, cylindrical inner surfaces 26 and 28, respectively, extending in opposite directions from the intermediate portion 16. The portion 16 has a pair of downwardly tapering, radially spaced bores 30 extending through the intermediate portion 16 and having axes parallel to the axis of the inner surface 26. Rigidly secured within each tapered bore 30 is a frusto-conical, elongated, ceramic insulating ferrule 32 having a downward taper equal to that of the bore 30 and so dimensioned that the bore 30 engages an intermediate portion of the ferrule 32 which extends upwardly and downwardly beyond the upper and lower surfaces of the intermediate portion 16, respectively. The ferrule 32 is formed about and rigidly secures an elongated, generally cylindrical, metallic connector pin 34 which is coaxial with the insulator 32 and extends upwardly and downwardly therebeyond. The connector pin 34 has corrugations or notches 36 (see FIG. 3) on the portion received by the ferrule 32 to prevent axial motion of the pin 34 within the ferrule 32. Each pin 34 of the illustrated embodiment has a flattened bottom portion 38 with a bore 39 therethrough to provide for solder connections in a manner well known in the art. The width of the flattened bottom portion 38 is restricted to somewhat less than the bottom diameter of the tapered bore 30 so that the ferrule 32 and the pin 34 can be inserted therethrough. It is to be appreciated that other types of connections such as terminal type or pin type can be provided at the lower end of the pin 34 as desired.

Within the inner surface 26, and filling the bottom portion thereof, is a body of plastic material 40 surrounding the upper portions of the insulators 32 which extend above the intermediate body portion 16 and encompassing and bonded to the portion of the pin 34 upwardly adjacent the ferrule 32 and to the body 12 to form a fluid tight seal between the body 12 and the connector pin 34. The plastic body 40 is formed within the metallic body 12 after the insertion of the ferrules 32 with their respective pins 34 and is implaced by a process such as pressure molding which insures that the lower portion of the inner surface 26 will be entirely filled to provide the desired sealing action. The plastic body 40 is formed of a material which is elastic and compressible so that fluid pressure applied to the elastic body 40 compresses it against the surfaces to which it is bonded to provide a fluid tight seal.

It is to be appreciated that although the connector 10 of this invention is herein shown with the two pins 34, the connector of this invention is adaptable to any number of pins as may be desired in a particular application.

It is to be noted that the ceramic material of the ferrule 32 provides mechanical support for the pin 34 and electrical insulation between the pin 34 and the metallic body 12 but is not required to provide sealing action. Since a fluid tight seal between the pin 34 and the ferrule 32 is unnecessary, the thermal coeflicients of expansion thereof can be somewhat different without causing leakage. The coefficient of expansion of the metallic body 12 is desirably somewhat greater than that of the ceramic ferrule 32 to prevent a build up of crushing stresses when the connector 10 is operating at elevated temperatures. The material of which the metallic body 12 is made can be stainless steel, aluminum, or monel metal according to the conditions of temperature, pressure and corrosive environment to be encountered in a particular appli-. cation.

The ceramic material presently being used for the ferrule 32 is a glass mica material manufactured under the tradename Mykroy by Electronic Mechanics Incorporated of Clifton, New Jersey, but could be any material of suitable mechanical and dielectric properties.

The plastic body 40 is normally formed of a neoprene elastomer which will withstand operating temperatures of minus 20 F. through 165 F. however, various elastomers are available to meet environmental requirements in the minus 65 F. and 500 F. range.

The advantages inherent in-the electrical connector of this invention reside in the separation of the functions of mechanical support and electrical insulation from the desired scaling function so that it is unnecessary that the pin 34 have a fluid tight relationship with the ferrule 32 or that the ferrule 32 have a fluid tight relationship with the body 12 since all of the necessary sealing is provided by the plastic body 40.

In the present invention a total taper angle of 4 has been found suitable for the bores 30 and the mating surface of the ferrule 32 to provide a rigid mechanical relationship between the body 12 and the ferrule 32..

A preferred embodiment of this invention having been described and illustrated it is to be realized that modifications therein can be made without departing from the broad spirit and scope of this invention. It is therefore respectfully requested that this invention be interpreted as broadly as possible and be limited only by the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical connector comprising, a base member having an opening extending therethrough, an insulating ceramic ferrule having a portion extending through said opening, said ferrule having an enlargement at one end thereof engageable with a portion of said base member to prevent movement of said ferrule in one direction with respect to said base member, an electrical conductor rigidly secured intermediate said ferrule with a portion thereof extending outwardly of said ferrule in a direction opposite said one direction, a moldable elastic dielectric member encasing the part of said portion of said conductor adjacent said ferrule and the portion of said ferrule adjacent thereto, and said dielectric member being bonded during the molding thereof at least to the said base memher and said part of said portion of said conductor.

and said dielectric member encases and is bonded to said section of the ferrule.

2. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said ferrule is closely received in said opening.

3. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said opening is tapered; and said ferrule is tapered the same amount as said opening.

4. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein said ferrule has a section extending exteriorly of 5. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1 including an elongated cylindrical open ended housing; said base member is integral with the internal wall of said housing and intermediate the ends thereof; said opening in the base member is frustro conical and tapers in the direction of one of said ends; said ferrule is elongated and is frustro conical and tapers the same amount as said opening; said ferrule has a section extending exteriorly of said base member and in the direction of the other of said ends; said dielectric member is bonded to the surface of said base member in the direction of the other of said ends; and said dielectric member encases and is bonded to said section of the ferrule.

6. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 5 wherein said conductor has a corrugated part; and said ferrule surrounds said corrugated part.

7. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1 including an elongated cylindrical open ended housing; said base member is integral with the internal wall of said housing and intermediate the ends thereof; said opening in the base member is frusto conical and tapers in the direction of 7 one of the ends; said ferrule is elongated and is frusto conical and tapers the same amount as said opening; said ferrule has a section extending exteriorally of said base and in the direction of the other of said ends; said base member includes a second opening therethrough; said second opening is frusto conical and tapers in the direction of one of said ends; and further including a second ceramic ferrule having a portion extending through said second opening, said second ferrule is frustro conical and tapers the same amount as said second opening; said second ferrule has a section extending exteriorly of said base member and in the direction of the other of said ends; said dielectric mernber encases and is bonded to said sections of said ferrules, and said member is bonded to the surface of said base member in the direction of the other of said ends and at least adjacent said ferrules.

8. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 7 wherein said dielectric member is bonded to the entire surface of said base member in the direction of the other of said ends.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,503,429 4/1950 Ziegler.

3,059,210 10/1962 Luenberger "339-94 FOREIGN PATENTS 769,452 3/ 1957 Great Britain.

988,775 4/1965 Great Britain.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner. J-

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1. AN ELECTRIC CONNECTOR COMPRISING, A BASE MEMBER HAVING AN OPEN EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, AN INSULATING CERAMIC FERRULE HAVING A PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING, SAID FERRULE HAVING AN ENLARGEMENT AT ONE END THEREOF ENGAGEABLE WITH A PORTION OF SAID BASE MEMBER TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF SAID FERRULE IN ONE DIRECTION WITH RESPECT TO SAID BASE MEMBER, AN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR RIGIDLY SECURED INTERMEDIATE SAID FERRULE WITH A PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID FERRULE IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE SAID ONE DIRECTION, A MOLDABLE ELASTIC DIELECTRIC MEMBER ENCASING THE PART OF SAID PORTION OF SAID CONDUCTOR ADJACENT SAID FERRULE AND THE PORTION OF SAID FERRULE ADJACENT THERETO, AND SAID DIELECTRIC MEMBER BEING BONDED DURING THE MOLDING THEREOF AT LEAST TO THE SAID BASE MEMBER AND SAID PART OF SAID PORTION OF SAID CONDUCTOR. 